The day by day journeys to Disneyland began out for Jeff Reitz as a approach for him to get out of the home, get some train and get a break from the toil of in search of work when he was unemployed in 2012.
A Disneyland annual go had been a present, and the visits to the Anaheim park lifted his spirits on arduous days. Then, on his sixtieth consecutive go to, Reitz puzzled whether or not his day by day visits to the Anaheim park could possibly be one thing particular.
Final week, the Guinness World Data acknowledged the 50-year-old because the world file holder for probably the most consecutive visits to Disneyland, an astonishing 2,995 days. It’s a file that’s unlikely to be replicated, provided that day by day visits usually are not assured now that the park requires a reservation to go to.
He visited for eight years, three months and 13 consecutive days, simply shy of his preliminary purpose of three,000 consecutive visits.
“I used to be truly shocked,” mentioned Reitz of Huntington Seashore. “I wasn’t actively going for a Guinness World File all eight years. It was simply one thing I used to be holding monitor of.”
Jeff Reitz visited Disneyland for eight years, three months and 13 consecutive days, simply shy of his preliminary purpose of three,000 consecutive visits.
(Jeff Reitz)
Reitz knew it was a file, however as he stored monitor of his day by day visits to the park, he’d additionally famous years in the past that Guinness World Data didn’t have one for consecutive visits to the Southern California theme park. When he realized that setting a brand new file may require paying a charge to Guinness and different necessities, he’d merely forgotten about it.
However final week, when Guinness World Data contacted him a couple of doable story about his visits, he discovered he was formally acknowledged because the world file holder.
“It was simply wild how all this occurred,” he mentioned.
Since 2012, Reitz has been interviewed by information shops around the globe about his hundreds of visits and his love for Disneyland.
Jeff Reitz, standing subsequent to a statue of Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse, started making day by day journeys to Disneyland when he was unemployed in 2012.
(Jeff Reitz)
The endeavor required not only a monetary funding, however critical time administration, he mentioned.
As soon as he discovered a job, Reitz mentioned, he needed to plan when he may match a go to round his work hours. Generally, it required an early or late-night go to, and even taking a time off from work.
It additionally required him planning out easy issues, comparable to whether or not he’d eat on the park, or make a sandwich for the journey. It could appear to be small particulars, he mentioned, however almost 3,000 days of meals and snacks also can put a dent within the pockets.
Reitz additionally took particular care to maintain a file of his journeys. He stored a weblog, posted photos on Fb and Instagram, and has held onto every parking receipt of his visits since 2012.
Jeff Reitz continues to be a typical face at Disneyland, however he now not holds a season go to the Anaheim theme park, he says.
(Jeff Reitz)
For annual go holders, Disneyland retains information of when the go is used, making a log of Reitz visits. However when energy or laptop outages affected the park’s computer systems, Reitz additionally stopped by Disneyland’s Metropolis Corridor so his visits have been recorded and logged.
In March 2020, he was approaching the three,000-visit mark. Then, on March 14, Disneyland introduced it was shutting down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. When the park reopened in April 2021, Disneyland required guests to make reservations to assist handle the park’s infamous crowding issues. Not everybody who seeks a reservation will get one, and new annual passes additionally block out a number of dates in December for go holders, making a brand new visitation file unlikely.
“I used to be completely satisfied and unhappy on the identical time,” Reitz mentioned.
He was dissatisfied that simply 5 days shy of a purpose he’d set eight years prior, it was coming to an finish, he defined. However as the three,000-day mark approached, he was additionally questioning what the next day would appear to be.
Would he return to the park? Would he miss the regulars and solid members who had change into mates?
“If I’d seen buddies posting footage on the park, I’d have been bummed out,” he mentioned. “I’m unsure I needed to cease.”
With the park shutting down, he had no alternative.
At present, Reitz continues to be a typical face on the park, however he now not holds a season go, he mentioned.
His expertise taught him to search for the small particulars, park options that usually go unseen by even probably the most frequent guests.
There are the hidden statues and options that Disneyland bloggers usually write about. However Reitz mentioned guests usually miss different particulars, such because the background noise and jokes which might be piped in from audio system alongside park corridors and walkways.
“You’re in such a rush that you just gained’t get an opportunity to cease and hearken to the sounds and the jokes of the background audio,” he mentioned. “Most individuals don’t get to listen to and understand how a lot thought and magic the engineers put into it.”
